Our plan for Wales was to spend these first five days near the Brecon Beacons National Park so that we could do several hikes.  The wetness combined with the nature of the trails meant hiking was off the table.  By today we had exhausted our alternatives.  We had no plan A, much less B, C or any other letter.  So what to do?  Usually we plan a day outing by first deciding where we want to visit and then, often while Phyllis is driving, Craig will scour the internet for a good place to eat.  This technique had worked well, particularly on Madeira where we had some magnificent lunches.  Today we approached the planning backwards.  While randomly looking at a map of places we had not yet visited in southern Wales, Craig came upon a small restaurant that looked really good.  We decided to go there for lunch and then cast around for something to do.  Fortunately there was a very beautiful beach close by the restaurant and thus we now had a plan.

A couple of the reviews of Runwayskiln had suggested it was a good idea to have a reservation so, just before 11:00 we called and asked about availability.  The nice person who answered said "we have two openings for a table for two, 12:30 and 3:30".  We quickly did the math, hour-and-a-half to get there, hour-and-a-half before the reservation time (actually pretty simple math) and said yes we will be there for the 12:30.  Phyllis will have to push the speed limit.  (Didn't she just have to do this yesterday driving to the Big Pit?)

Doing her best "little old lady from Pasadena" imitation, Phyllis got us to the restaurant with five minutes to spare.  The effort and anxiety was worth it as Runwayskiln lived up to all of its accolades.  Even the beer was the best we have had in Wales.  For the meal Craig went with the well-regarded cheeseburger while Phyllis went wild ordering spiced cashew nut pakoras on a bed of quinoa and some greens.  The cheeseburger was excellent but Phyllis clearly won lunch.  It was awesome.  We were so happy with our meals that we ordered a piece of Algerian Love Cake for dessert.  It too was outstanding.  This restaurant apparently can do no wrong.  Given that there appear to be old (maybe World War II) runways nearby, we assumed that had something to do with the restaurant name, but it turns out that the Runways family owned all this land and had a kiln to roast their barley (for beer) where the restaurant now operates.  

After lunch we waddled away and over to the beach.  The walk was initially along high cliffs overlooking the beach and then down to the beach via a ravine. We walked a long way down the beach and then back up the cliffs on a steep trail.  Back along the cliffs we found our way to the car and made it safely home, counting our last day in South Wales a success.